


Always

by yuletide_archivist



Category: Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-13
Updated: 2008-12-13
Packaged: 2018-01-25 02:05:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1625816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Julian has no friends," she said.  "That icy personality of his is thawed only by thoughts of himself.  I can believe Julian capable of that because I cannot believe him capable of strong emotional attachments."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Tree Wishes

 

 

They were all sitting at the breakfast table when their father dropped his bombshell.

"The things out of Shadow are becoming a nuisance," King Oberon of Amber said. "I'll be having the patrols in Arden increased - and I want one of you in charge."

A pause, for recalculation and mutual observation.

Julian scanned the faces of his siblings. Flora looked bored, Random fidgety, Gerard neutral, Deirdre sad. Caine was interested, Bleys looked eager and Eric was scowling. Llewella was in Rebma, and Benedict and Brand were off somewhere in Shadow. Corwin was not there. And Fiona, of course, looked amused.

"Do you happen to have anyone specific in mind?" Julian asked. Nothing in his face or his posture disclosed the eagerness he felt at the announcement.

"Not at the moment," his father said, with a finality in his tone that indicated that the subject was closed. Which, of course, it wasn't.

He wondered what he'd have to do to get the job.

~*~

Julian caught sight of Fiona later that morning when he was out walking in the gardens, her upswept hair blazing like a beacon as he came around one of the hedges. She saw him at nearly the same moment and paused, waiting for him to catch up.

"Sister," he greeted her, the smile on his face a real one. "How are you this morning?"

"Not bad," she said. A couple steps, and she asked, "What did you think of Dad's announcement?"

"He's going to make us fight it out between ourselves before he decides, of course. Corwin would have been the obvious choice, but he's out of the picture. As for the rest of us - Benedict has better things to do, Eric wants it but Dad still blames him for Corwin's disappearance, Brand would rather play the suffering artist than lead an army, Gerard won't leave his ships and as for Random... well, let's just say that I don't expect much competition there."

She smiled, as he knew she would. "That leaves Caine, Bleys and you. That is - you do want the job?"

"Of course," he answered, half-smiling. "I have always loved Arden. Caine would like it, if only to get one step up on the rest of us, but he doesn't have much of a chance; not after he screwed up in the campaign against the Moonriders of Ghenesh. Bleys, though..." He paused, and would have grimaced. "He seems to like the idea of riding around Arden with a company of merry men. Dad favors him more than he does me. If he wants it..." He shook his head. "I don't suppose you could convince him to give it up?" he asked rhetorically.

"Oh, I could," she said seriously. He glanced at her, surprised. "He has the attention span of a mayfly. He'd get bored with the job within the week. If I hint to him that he'd have more fun in command of a ship, or even out in Shadow, he'd change his mind in an instant." A pause. "Do you want me to?" she asked, and turned to look at him.

Whatever he'd been about to say was forgotten as he met her eyes. Somehow, without him noticing, the conversation had turned to something very different.

"Would you?" he asked after a too-long silence.

"That depends," she said. They'd both come to a full stop, facing each other.

He took a breath, as though about to speak, then let it out. "Fiona--" he began.

"But that's not all you want from me," she stated, cutting him off and taking a step toward him. "Is it?"

"No," he said. "No," and before he knew what he was doing his hand had moved to touch her face, to stroke that perfect porcelain skin he'd dreamed about touching for so long, his fingertips running in one smooth motion from her forehead down to her chin, drawing her face up to his. Her eyes were half-closed, her lips half-parted, and the pulse he felt underneath his fingers ran as fast as his own. And because it felt like the right thing to do, he leaned down and kissed her.

When they rose for air, she was breathing as heavily as he was, the wonder in her eyes mirroring that in his own.

"All right," she said, slightly breathless, a smile that she didn't even try to hide widening across her face. "I'll do it. For you."

~*~

His father was sitting at his desk, flipping slowly through a sheaf of papers, not even looking up as the door opened and closed.

"You wanted to see me?" Julian asked a few seconds later, when it was clear that his father was not going to say the first word.

"Yes," his father said, putting down a piece of paper and looking up at last. "I think you know why I want to talk to you."

"I can hazard a guess, yes," Julian replied.

"I'm putting you in charge of our forces in Arden," he said. "I am confident that you will manage them to the best of your abilities."

Julian allowed himself a small, satisfied smile. "Thank you, father." Oberon didn't seem about to say anything beyond that, but he didn't mind. He hadn't expected him to.

"Oh, and Julian?" his father added just as he was turning to go.

"Yes?"

"I believe you are aware of my feelings on the subject of brother-sister relationships."

"Yes, of course." How could he not be, when Corwin and Deirdre had been mooning after each other like lovesick puppies for the past two centuries? He didn't even bother asking how his father had known.

"Good," Oberon said, already turning back to his paperwork. "Dismissed." He didn't look up again, not even as Julian left, closing the door behind him.

~*~

She was sitting on a garden bench when he found her. He stopped as she came into sight, before she noticed him. It made for a beautiful picture - the deep green of her dress vivid against the foliage that surrounded her; her fiery hair falling in curls down her shoulders, smoldering in the late-afternoon light. As she saw him approach, she smiled and rose to her feet. It was almost enough to break his resolve; almost, but not quite. Something of his feelings must have shown on his face because her smile faltered suddenly and she stood there, uncertain.

He stopped a pace away from her, standing in silence. She studied his face for a few moments, then nodded once, sharply.

"So. You got the job."

"Yes," he answered.

"Congratulations," she said. "I hope you enjoy it." She turned and walked away.

 


End file.
